1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for an image pickup element.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional method for driving an area type solid image pickup element is achieved in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. An area image pickup element 101 is supplied with horizontal transfer pulses from a timing generator 909 and vertical transfer pulses via a vertical driver 105. An image picked-up signal is read out from the area image pickup element 101 and then supplied to an analog front end 103. The analog front end 103 sequentially performs correlated double sampling, gain adjustment and A/D conversion and supplies the processed result to a digital signal processor (DSP) 905. The digital signal processor 905 generates an image signal constituted of a luminance signal and color difference signals, from the supplied digital signals, and outputs the generated signal to an external via a terminal 107. The digital signal processor 905 operates in response to a clock generated by the timing generator 909, and generates HD/VD pulses of NTSC or PAL to return them to the timing generator 909. The timing generator 909 establishes frame synchronization by generating various read pulses for the area image pickup element 101 in accordance with the HD/VD pulses.
A conventional timing generator is designed only for each area image pickup element 101 and therefore is not compatible with other types of area image pickup elements. The timing generator is also required to be designed so as to handle not only a moving image taking mode but also a still image taking mode and a monitoring mode, in case that the image pickup element has the latter two modes in addition to the moving image taking mode. If there is any change in combination of image taking modes, it is necessary to redesign a timing generator, resulting in a high cost.